Thursday, January 24, 2013

Evens & Starters

Weird title for a blog post, I know. But I just wanted to share a few links--and I didn't think "Odds & Ends" would suit the first blog post of the year.

So...a few evens and starters for you:

If you've been reading this blog since my Camino de Santiago days--or if you've found this blog by way of searching for info about the Camino--you might be interested in a couple developments by two fellow peregrinos and friends I made on the Camino in 2011.

A friend I made on my very first day of walking the Camino has just launched her own "just get me started" Camino program: The Camino Experience.

Nancy (center) with fellow peregrinas from Ireland and Canada, 2011

I met Nancy in the Orisson albergue, where I learned she was the only other American pilgrim in the joint that night...as well as making her 6th Camino journey. Since then, she's made two more pilgrimages on the Camino and has decided to help other would-be pilgrims become bona-fide peregrinos. If you're interested in walking the Camino someday, you couldn't do any better than finding out how to get started from a genuine Camino expert like Nancy. Check out her website for more information and background about Nancy.

Meanwhile another friend I made on the Camino, a photographer from South Africa who currently lives in Ireland, where she officially began her Camino journey, has just published an e-book about her pilgrimage experience. Belinda's book, titled Simple Moments on a Journey, is available for purchase for your Kindle for $9.99 at Amazon. It's a lovely, thoughtful story by a very lovely, thoughtful person. Here's also a little video with some photos from her journey that tell more about her book:



Speaking of Ireland (sort of), I wanted to give a shout out to myself (yes, I can do that--it's my blog, people) and my tour company's upcoming women's tour of Ireland in August and September this year. If you've been thinking of signing up for the tour, and if your interest in Ireland or the tour stems from digging at some Irish roots in your family tree, you should know this year is the best year to visit Ireland. Why? Because of The Gathering 2013, that's why!

The Gathering is a special and huge initiative just launched by the Irish government and Irish tourist board to welcome people of Irish heritage all over the world back to their ancestral homeland. The year-long and country-wide celebration got going on New Year's Eve in Dublin. Events celebrating Ireland's diaspora and worldwide cultural influence will be held all throughout the year, in every corner and county of Ireland, north and south. Since this is Ireland we're talking about, what this means essentially is more warm welcomes, more music sessions, more parties, more fun, more craic than ever. That's saying something.

So if you've been thinking of visiting Ireland, this year is the time to do it. And if you're a woman who's looking to travel to Ireland, Wayfaring Women Tours is the group to travel with. It's not your grandfather's Ireland you'll see with Wayfaring Women Tours--it's your grandmother's your mother's, your sister's, your daughter's, your girlfriend's, and yours, Irish roots or no Irish roots. Here's a link to some pictures of places you'll see and go on our tour from our Facebook page. 

Kylemore Abbey in County Galway

Any questions about tour, give us a call at (773) 655-9514 or email us at info@wayfaringwomentours.com.